Choose a topic for your paper and type it here:
(5 points)
Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways
February 4 — thesis due
Your thesis tells your readers what point you will be making and defending about the novel.
For a guide to writing your thesis (and some examples) click here. Write your thesis here:
(5 points)
The story The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he trys to act tough. He is always trying to learn from write or wrong and is still facing childhood problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
February 5 — identify three main body topics
Your three main body topics are the main topics you will use to defend your thesis.
You should use at least three different subtopics (main bodies) to defend your thesis in the paper.
Many students use 4, 5, or even more main body topics to organize their papers.
THREE IS JUST A MINIMUM.
Please enter (at least) three main body topics here:
(5 points)
1)He trys to act tough but always seems to act like a child & is learning right from wrong
2)He is/will face all or any childhood problems
3)He is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity
4)He does/acts what/like mostly all teens do today
February 6 — introductory paragraph due
Your intro paragrpah tells your readers the thesis of your paper, and briefly outlines the main body paragraph topics you will use to prove and defend your thesis. Type (or link to) your Introductory Paragraph here:
(10 points)
Many people don't know but about 80% of high school students have tried alcohol. But that doesnt matter for Holden at all. The story The Cathcer in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he trys to act tough. He is always trying to learn right from wrong and is still facing childhood problems. This story is mostly all about Holden and his way through life. Holden seems to almost always find a way to help him get through these problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
February 7 — critical articles (secondary sources) due
You need at least three secondary sources (essays or articles about the novel written by professional critics) from which you will quote the words of the author/critic to help defend your thesis. List the titles and authors of your three secondary sources here:
(5 points)
1)"Love and Death in The Cather in the Rye" by Peter Shaw Link 1
2)"If a Body Catch a Body': The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Debate as Expression of Nuclear Culture" by Pamela Steinle Link 2
3)"O Pency, My Pency!" by Sanford Pinsker Link 3
4)"The Catcher Controversies as Cultural Debate" by Pamela Hunt Steinle Link 4
5)"The Catcher in the Rye" by Eberhard Alsen Link 5
NOTE: It is a good idea to find more than three articles in case you change your mind about using one of them. Remember, your final paper must have a total of 8-15 quotes from these secondary sources to help you make your point and defend your thesis. These eight quotes must come from at least three different secondary sources.
February 8 — secondary source quotes
Using each of your three articles at least once, select at least 8 details or quotes from your articles to defend thesis.
YOU MUST LIST THE QUOTE, THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTE, AND THE MAIN BODY TOPIC OF YOUR PAPER WHERE YOU WILL USE THE QUOTE. List at least eight quotes from secondary sources here:
(5 points)
1) QUOTE: "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers."
TITLE & PAGE: "Love and Death in The Catcher in the Rye" pg.4
AUTHOR: Peter Shaw
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
2) QUOTE: "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it."
TITLE & PAGE: "Love and Death in The Catcher in the Rye" pg.5
AUTHOR: Peter Shaw
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
3) QUOTE: "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenitites written by others."
TITLE & PAGE:"If a Body Catch a Body': The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Debate as Expression of Nuclear Culture" pg.2
AUTHOR: Pamela Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
4) QUOTE: "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques."
TITLE & PAGE: "O Pency, My Pency!" pg.1
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
5) QUOTE: "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it."
TITLE & PAGE: "O Pency, My Pency!" pg.2
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
6) QUOTE: "If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in."
TITLE & PAGE: " O Pency, My Pency!" pg.3
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
7) QUOTE: "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Cathcer Controversies as Cultural Debate" pg.13
AUTHOR: Pamela Hunt Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
8) QUOTE: "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher Controversies as Cultural Debate" pg.13
AUTHOR: Pamela Hunt Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
9) QUOTE: "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher in the Rye" pg.7
AUTHOR: Eberhard Alsen
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
10) QUOTE: "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher in the Rye" pg.9
AUTHOR: Eberhard Alsen
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
(Feel free to add additional quotes here, using the same format as above)
February 11 — primary source quotes
Please select at least 10 details from the novel to defend thesis Feb 11 List them here:
(5 points)
1) QUOTE: "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough."
PAGE NUMBER: p.179
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
2) QUOTE: "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.13
SUBTOPIC: Learning
3) QUOTE: "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.14
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
4) QUOTE: "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther."
PAGE NUMBER: pg. 30
SUBTOPIC: Tough
5) QUOTE: "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-.""
PAGE NUMBER: pg.31
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
6) QUOTE: "He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something.""
PAGE NUMBER: pg.42
SUBTOPIC: Tough
7) QUOTE: "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then i tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.43
SUBTOPIC: Tough
8) QUOTE: "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.57
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
9) QUOTE: "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know thos ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance , do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, bu any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.60
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
10) QUOTE: "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.180
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
(Feel free to add additional quotes here, using the same format as above)
February 12 — outline your main body
Please arrange your 10 primary source quotes and your 8 secondary source quotes into an outline of the body of your critical paper.
In other words, list the quotes in the order you will use them under each main body topic.
If you use a word document to do this, this could become the framework for your actual paper (because you could type your own writing in between the quotes after you've arranged them in order in this outline, thus creating a draft of your actual paper).
Please post (or link to) a word document containing the outline of your main body (everything but your intro and conclusion) here: I.)Trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child & is learning right from wrong a."What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." b."Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." c."He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" d."This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then i tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." II.)Facing all or any childhood problems a."Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers." b."Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it." c."He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." d."Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." III.)Growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity a."The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." b."This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenitites written by others." c."When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." d."Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." e."He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." f."You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough." g."I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know thos ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance , do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." h."....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." IV.)Does/acts what/like mostly all teens do today a."It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." b.“If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." c."Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." d."Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-.""
(5 points)
February 13 — first draft of main body
Write a draft of the body of your paper for peer review.
Please create a link to this first draft, calling it (YOURNAME)'S FIRST DRAFT, as a new wiki page.
Ask at least three of your classmates to read your draft (you might need to tell them where to find it by emailing them a link).
Students will be expected to read each other's drafts and leave comments in the discussion board.
(10 points) Holden paragrapgh #1
Holden is always trying to act tough. It seems that he ends up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. Also, with all the grading and the time for helping children. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is,"He looked up at me."Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when the kid asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." Here Holden hits the kid to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to the kid instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child. Holden paragrapgh #2
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers." This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it." This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces. Holden paragragph #3
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution and here he also gets the understanding of not having sex with the prostitute since he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." Here Holden realizes that that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough." In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become. Holden paragrapgh #4
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some crushes that they show or some crushes that they tell. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
February 14 — peer review
List the names of at least three of your classmates whose first drafts you read and commented upon:
(5 points)
1)John Cohen
2)Joy Mayfield
3)Woo Lee
At this point, begin revising your draft and come up with a second rough draft.
February 19 — final rough draft
Submit a paper copy of your final draft of the body to the teacher.
(20 points) Holden #1
Holden is always trying to act tough. It seems that he ends up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." (13) In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. Also, with all the grading and the time for helping children. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (30) This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is,"He looked up at me."Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" (42) What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when the kid asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." (43) Here Holden hits the kid to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to the kid instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child.
Holden #2
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers." (Shaw 4) This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it." (Pinsker 2) This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." (Steinle 13) Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." (57) This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces.
Holden #3
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." (Shaw 5) This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." (Steinle 2) This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." (Steinle 13) Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution and here he also gets the understanding of not having sex with the prostitute since he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." (Alsen 7) Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." (Alsen 9) Here Holden realizes that that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough." (179) In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." (60) As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." (180) Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become.
Holden #4
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." (Pinsker 1) This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." (Pinsker 3) This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." (14) This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" (31) This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some crushes that they show or some crushes that they tell. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
February 21 — rough draft of conclusion paragraph
Please type (or link to) the rough draft of your conclusion paragraph here:
(5 points)
So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As you have seen, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows you can’t be a child forever, because he knows you must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
February 22 — final draft of conclusion paragraph
Revise your conclusion paragraph and present a copy to your teacher today. Also, please type (or link to) the rough draft of your conclusion paragraph here:
(10 points) So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As I have shown, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows he can’t be a child forever, because he knows he must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
February 25 — Works Cited Page due
Turn in a paper copy of your works cited page to your teacher today! Link to the Word document of your works cited page here:
(20 points)
Ben Revitsky
Mrs. Jacobson, p.8
English 10.5
March 2, 2008
Turn in the final draft of critical paper TODAY, including:
a) note cards
b) outline of body
c) all rough drafts
d) completed checklist, signed
e) final draft of paper, typed, double spaced (5-7 pgs.)
f) final works cited / references page
(100 points)
Ben Revitsky
Mrs. Jacobson, p.8
English 10.5
March 4, 2008
Holden the growing Child
Many people don't know but about 80% of high school students have tried alcohol. But that doesn’t matter for Holden at all. The story The Cathcer in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he try’s to act tough. He is always trying to learn right from wrong and is still facing childhood problems. This story is mostly all about Holden and his way through life. Holden seems to almost always find a way to help him get through these problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
Holden is always trying to act tough but seems to end up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." (13) In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. With all the grading and the time for helping children Holden understands the sacrifice needed to be made to be a teacher. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try’s to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (30) This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is,"He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" (42) What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he is some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when Stradlater asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." (43) Here Holden hits Stradlater to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to Stradlater instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child.
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clinging to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing checkers." (Shaw 4) This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. He gets the curious feelings for Jane when she plays checkers like no one has ever done before. He’s never seen someone put their Kings in the back row which ends up giving him his curious feelings. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but I hardly didn't even show it." (Pinsker 2) This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." (Steinle 13) Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." (57) This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces.
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." (Shaw 5) This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." (Steinle 2) This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." (Steinle 13) Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution such as STD’s and also knows he will not have sex with the prostitute because he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." (Alsen 7) Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and is just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." (Alsen 9) Here Holden realizes that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christmas dough." (179) In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." (60) As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." (180) Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become.
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "(The world,) It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." (Pinsker 1) This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." (Pinsker 3) This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." (14) This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" (31) This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some of their crushes are some that they show or are some that they tell. Also, Holden gets to the stage of teens where he must tell someone everything he knows about his crush Jane Gallagher. Such as in this quote when he starts telling Stradlater about his childhood memories with her and how they met. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As I have shown, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows he can’t be a child forever, because he knows he must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
March 5 — TURN IT IN (dot com)
Today is the final day for MANDATORY submission of your final critical paper to www.turnitin.com
FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER TO TURNITIN.COM WILL RESULT IN A ZERO ON YOUR PAPER!
Hooray!! You're done!
Now let's have some fun making our Julius Caesar movie!
Back to Critical Papers HomeJanuary 29 — folder and parent signature due
Did you show the teacher your two-pocket folder with three-ring center? (5 pts.)
YES
Did you show the teacher your Parent Signature? (5 pts.)
YES
January 30 — note cards due
Did you show the teacher your one pack of 3x5 notecards? (5 pts.)
YES
Did you buy your own copy of The Catcher in the Rye to mark up? (optional)
YES
NO
January 31 — select a topic
View a list of potential paper topics:Choose a topic for your paper and type it here:
(5 points)
Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways
February 4 — thesis due
Your thesis tells your readers what point you will be making and defending about the novel.
For a guide to writing your thesis (and some examples) click here.
Write your thesis here:
(5 points)
The story The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he trys to act tough. He is always trying to learn from write or wrong and is still facing childhood problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
February 5 — identify three main body topics
Your three main body topics are the main topics you will use to defend your thesis.You should use at least three different subtopics (main bodies) to defend your thesis in the paper.
Many students use 4, 5, or even more main body topics to organize their papers.
THREE IS JUST A MINIMUM.
Please enter (at least) three main body topics here:
(5 points)
1)He trys to act tough but always seems to act like a child & is learning right from wrong
2)He is/will face all or any childhood problems
3)He is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity
4)He does/acts what/like mostly all teens do today
February 6 — introductory paragraph due
Your intro paragrpah tells your readers the thesis of your paper, and briefly outlines the main body paragraph topics you will use to prove and defend your thesis.
Type (or link to) your Introductory Paragraph here:
(10 points)
Many people don't know but about 80% of high school students have tried alcohol. But that doesnt matter for Holden at all. The story The Cathcer in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he trys to act tough. He is always trying to learn right from wrong and is still facing childhood problems. This story is mostly all about Holden and his way through life. Holden seems to almost always find a way to help him get through these problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
February 7 — critical articles (secondary sources) due
You need at least three secondary sources (essays or articles about the novel written by professional critics) from which you will quote the words of the author/critic to help defend your thesis.
List the titles and authors of your three secondary sources here:
(5 points)
1)"Love and Death in The Cather in the Rye" by Peter Shaw Link 1
2)"If a Body Catch a Body': The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Debate as Expression of Nuclear Culture" by Pamela Steinle Link 2
3)"O Pency, My Pency!" by Sanford Pinsker Link 3
4)"The Catcher Controversies as Cultural Debate" by Pamela Hunt Steinle Link 4
5)"The Catcher in the Rye" by Eberhard Alsen Link 5
NOTE: It is a good idea to find more than three articles in case you change your mind about using one of them. Remember, your final paper must have a total of 8-15 quotes from these secondary sources to help you make your point and defend your thesis. These eight quotes must come from at least three different secondary sources.
February 8 — secondary source quotes
Using each of your three articles at least once, select at least 8 details or quotes from your articles to defend thesis.
YOU MUST LIST THE QUOTE, THE SOURCE OF THE QUOTE, AND THE MAIN BODY TOPIC OF YOUR PAPER WHERE YOU WILL USE THE QUOTE.
List at least eight quotes from secondary sources here:
(5 points)
1) QUOTE: "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers."
TITLE & PAGE: "Love and Death in The Catcher in the Rye" pg.4
AUTHOR: Peter Shaw
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
2) QUOTE: "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it."
TITLE & PAGE: "Love and Death in The Catcher in the Rye" pg.5
AUTHOR: Peter Shaw
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
3) QUOTE: "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenitites written by others."
TITLE & PAGE:"If a Body Catch a Body': The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Debate as Expression of Nuclear Culture" pg.2
AUTHOR: Pamela Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
4) QUOTE: "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques."
TITLE & PAGE: "O Pency, My Pency!" pg.1
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
5) QUOTE: "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it."
TITLE & PAGE: "O Pency, My Pency!" pg.2
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
6) QUOTE: "If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in."
TITLE & PAGE: " O Pency, My Pency!" pg.3
AUTHOR: Sanford Pinsker
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
7) QUOTE: "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Cathcer Controversies as Cultural Debate" pg.13
AUTHOR: Pamela Hunt Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
8) QUOTE: "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher Controversies as Cultural Debate" pg.13
AUTHOR: Pamela Hunt Steinle
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
9) QUOTE: "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher in the Rye" pg.7
AUTHOR: Eberhard Alsen
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
10) QUOTE: "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents."
TITLE & PAGE: "The Catcher in the Rye" pg.9
AUTHOR: Eberhard Alsen
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
(Feel free to add additional quotes here, using the same format as above)
February 11 — primary source quotes
Please select at least 10 details from the novel to defend thesis Feb 11
List them here:
(5 points)
1) QUOTE: "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough."
PAGE NUMBER: p.179
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
2) QUOTE: "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.13
SUBTOPIC: Learning
3) QUOTE: "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.14
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
4) QUOTE: "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther."
PAGE NUMBER: pg. 30
SUBTOPIC: Tough
5) QUOTE: "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-.""
PAGE NUMBER: pg.31
SUBTOPIC: Teenagers
6) QUOTE: "He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something.""
PAGE NUMBER: pg.42
SUBTOPIC: Tough
7) QUOTE: "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then i tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.43
SUBTOPIC: Tough
8) QUOTE: "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.57
SUBTOPIC: Facing life
9) QUOTE: "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know thos ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance , do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, bu any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.60
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
10) QUOTE: "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left."
PAGE NUMBER: pg.180
SUBTOPIC: Maturity
(Feel free to add additional quotes here, using the same format as above)
February 12 — outline your main body
Please arrange your 10 primary source quotes and your 8 secondary source quotes into an outline of the body of your critical paper.In other words, list the quotes in the order you will use them under each main body topic.
If you use a word document to do this, this could become the framework for your actual paper (because you could type your own writing in between the quotes after you've arranged them in order in this outline, thus creating a draft of your actual paper).
Please post (or link to) a word document containing the outline of your main body (everything but your intro and conclusion) here:
I.) Trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child & is learning right from wrong
a. "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull."
b. "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther."
c. "He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something.""
d. "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then i tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about."
II.) Facing all or any childhood problems
a. "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers."
b. "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it."
c. "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care."
d. "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her."
III.) Growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity
a. "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it."
b. "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenitites written by others."
c. "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her."
d. "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough."
e. "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents."
f. "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough."
g. "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know thos ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance , do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million."
h. "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left."
IV.) Does/acts what/like mostly all teens do today
a. "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques."
b. “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in."
c. "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess."
d. "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-.""
(5 points)
February 13 — first draft of main body
Write a draft of the body of your paper for peer review.
Please create a link to this first draft, calling it (YOURNAME)'S FIRST DRAFT, as a new wiki page.
Ask at least three of your classmates to read your draft (you might need to tell them where to find it by emailing them a link).
Students will be expected to read each other's drafts and leave comments in the discussion board.
(10 points)
Holden paragrapgh #1
Holden is always trying to act tough. It seems that he ends up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. Also, with all the grading and the time for helping children. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is, "He looked up at me."Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when the kid asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." Here Holden hits the kid to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to the kid instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child.
Holden paragrapgh #2
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers." This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it." This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces.
Holden paragragph #3
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution and here he also gets the understanding of not having sex with the prostitute since he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." Here Holden realizes that that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough." In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become.
Holden paragrapgh #4
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some crushes that they show or some crushes that they tell. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
February 14 — peer review
List the names of at least three of your classmates whose first drafts you read and commented upon:
(5 points)
1)John Cohen
2)Joy Mayfield
3)Woo Lee
At this point, begin revising your draft and come up with a second rough draft.
February 19 — final rough draft
Submit a paper copy of your final draft of the body to the teacher.
(20 points)
Holden #1
Holden is always trying to act tough. It seems that he ends up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." (13) In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. Also, with all the grading and the time for helping children. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (30) This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is, "He looked up at me."Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" (42) What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when the kid asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." (43) Here Holden hits the kid to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to the kid instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child.
Holden #2
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clining to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing chackers." (Shaw 4) This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but i hardly didn't even show it." (Pinsker 2) This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." (Steinle 13) Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." (57) This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces.
Holden #3
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." (Shaw 5) This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." (Steinle 2) This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." (Steinle 13) Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution and here he also gets the understanding of not having sex with the prostitute since he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." (Alsen 7) Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." (Alsen 9) Here Holden realizes that that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christams dough." (179) In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." (60) As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." (180) Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become.
Holden #4
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." (Pinsker 1) This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." (Pinsker 3) This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." (14) This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" (31) This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some crushes that they show or some crushes that they tell. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
February 21 — rough draft of conclusion paragraph
Please type (or link to) the rough draft of your conclusion paragraph here:
(5 points)
So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As you have seen, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows you can’t be a child forever, because he knows you must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
February 22 — final draft of conclusion paragraph
Revise your conclusion paragraph and present a copy to your teacher today.
Also, please type (or link to) the rough draft of your conclusion paragraph here:
(10 points)
So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As I have shown, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows he can’t be a child forever, because he knows he must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
February 25 — Works Cited Page due
Turn in a paper copy of your works cited page to your teacher today!
Link to the Word document of your works cited page here:
(20 points)
Ben Revitsky
Mrs. Jacobson, p.8
English 10.5
March 2, 2008
Works Cited
Alsen, Eberhard. ""The Catcher in the Rye"." A Reader's Guide to J.D. Salinger (2002) 53-77. February 7, 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=lans23427&ADVST2=TO&srchtp=adv&c=8&stab=512&ASB2=AND&ADVSF2=The+Catcher+in+the+Rye&docNum=H1100078999&ADVSF1=Salinger&ADVST1=NA&bConts=514&vrsn=3&ASB1=AND&ADVSF3=Holden+is+a+normal+adolescent*&ste=74&tbst=asrch&tab=2&ADVST3=KA>.
Pinsker, Sanford. ""O Pency, My Pency!"." The Catcher in the Rye: Innocence Under Pressure (1993) 27-49. February 7, 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=lans23427&ADVST2=TO&srchtp=adv&c=4&stab=512&ASB2=AND&ADVSF2=The+Catcher+in+the+Rye&docNum=H1100078985&ADVSF1=Salinger&ADVST1=NA&bConts=514&vrsn=3&ASB1=AND&ADVSF3=Holden+is+a+normal+adolescent*&ste=74&tbst=asrch&tab=2&ADVST3=KA>.
Salinger, J.D.. The Catcher in the Rye. United States of America: Little, Brown and Company, 1945.
Shaw, Peter. "Love and Death in the Cathcer in the Rye"." New Essays on The Catcher in the Rye (1991) 97-114. February 7,2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=lans23427&ADVST2=TO&srchtp=adv&c=2&stab=512&ASB2=AND&ADVSF2=The+Catcher+in+the+Rye&docNum=H1100034793&ADVSF1=Salinger&ADVST1=NA&bConts=514&vrsn=3&ASB1=AND&ADVSF3=Holden+is+a+normal+adolescent*&ste=74&tbst=asrch&tab=2&ADVST3=KA>.
Steinle, Pamela. "'If a Body Catch a Body': The Catcher in the Rye Censorship Debate as Expression of Nuclear Culture" ." Popular Culture and Political Change in Modern America (1991) 127-36. February 7, 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=lans23427&ADVST2=TO&srchtp=adv&c=3&stab=512&ASB2=AND&ADVSF2=The+Catcher+in+the+Rye&docNum=H1100034794&ADVSF1=Salinger&ADVST1=NA&bConts=514&vrsn=3&ASB1=AND&ADVSF3=Holden+is+a+normal+adolescent*&ste=74&tbst=asrch&tab=2&ADVST3=KA>.
Steinle, Pamela. "The Catcher Controversies as Cultural Debate"." In Cold Fear (2000) 106-39. February 7, 2008 <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=lans23427&ADVST2=TO&srchtp=adv&c=5&stab=512&ASB2=AND&ADVSF2=The+Catcher+in+the+Rye&docNum=H1100078988&ADVSF1=Salinger&ADVST1=NA&bConts=514&vrsn=3&ASB1=AND&ADVSF3=Holden+is+a+normal+adolescent*&ste=74&tbst=asrch&tab=2&ADVST3=KA>.
February 27 — CRITICAL PAPER DUE!!!
Turn in the final draft of critical paper TODAY, including:
a) note cards
b) outline of body
c) all rough drafts
d) completed checklist, signed
e) final draft of paper, typed, double spaced (5-7 pgs.)
f) final works cited / references page
(100 points)
Ben Revitsky
Mrs. Jacobson, p.8
English 10.5
March 4, 2008
Holden the growing Child
Many people don't know but about 80% of high school students have tried alcohol. But that doesn’t matter for Holden at all. The story The Cathcer in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is mostly a story about a boy named Holden Caulfield who is a normal adolescent in many ways. Holden is always turning out to be a kid even though he try’s to act tough. He is always trying to learn right from wrong and is still facing childhood problems. This story is mostly all about Holden and his way through life. Holden seems to almost always find a way to help him get through these problems. Holden knows he is growing up and must learn to deal and understand maturity and is mostly always doing what other teens do today too. This essay will be about how Holden is a normal adolescent in many ways.
Holden is always trying to act tough but seems to end up acting like a child. He constantly is trying to learn right from wrong but it is always a little hard for him to do. There are some examples of him learning right from wrong. For example, "What would you have done in my place?" he said. "Tell the truth, boy." "Well, you could see he really felt pretty lousy about flunking me. So I shot the bull for a while. I told him I was a real moron, and all that stuff. I told him how I would've done exactly the same thing if I'd been in his place, and how most people didn't appreciate how tough it is being a teacher. That kind of stuff. The old bull." (13) In this quote Holden is saying that he realizes how hard it must be to be a teacher. With all the grading and the time for helping children Holden understands the sacrifice needed to be made to be a teacher. He is learning how to get into somebody’s else’s shoes and try’s to feel that persons feelings and life. There are also many examples of him trying to act tough. Such as, "Take her...She's too old for you." "All of a sudden-for no good reason, really, except that I was sort of in the mood for horsing around-I felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (30) This expresses Holden in both ways. He first off try’s to act tough by attacking Stradlater who is quite bigger than him. He then acts like a child because mostly children will jump on someone else’s back since they are in the childish stage. Another example is, "He looked up at me. "Listen," he said, "if you're gonna smoke in the room, how 'bout going down to the can and do it? You may be getting the hell out of here, but I have to stick around long enough to graduate." "I ignored him. I really did. I went right on smoking like a madman. All I did was sort of turn over on my side and watched him cut his damn toenails. What a school. You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples or something."" (42) What Holden is establishing in this quote is that he thinks he is some big cool and tough guy since he is smoking. He goes to his childish ways when Stradlater asks him to stop smoking and Holden just keeps on smoking away without even listening to him. The final quote is, "This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only, I missed. I didn't connect. All I did was sort of get him on the side of the head or something. It probably hurt him a little bit, but not as much as I wanted. It probably would've hurt him a lot, but I did it with my right hand, and I can't make a good fist with that hand. On account of that injury I told you about." (43) Here Holden hits Stradlater to try and act tough but what he could have done was talk to Stradlater instead of going to violence which is what many children do today. These are the many reasons of why Holden must learn right from wrong and him trying to act tough but acting like a child.
Holden also faces many childhood problems throughout the story. For example, "Holden's clinging to the part of his moratorium that concerns sex is expressed in his curious fondness for his friend Jane Gallagher's keeping her kings in the back row when playing checkers." (Shaw 4) This quote shows that Holden is faced with sex all throughout the story and in his life. He gets the curious feelings for Jane when she plays checkers like no one has ever done before. He’s never seen someone put their Kings in the back row which ends up giving him his curious feelings. Next, "Once, at the Whooton School, this other boy, Raymond Goldfarb, and I bought a pint of Scotch and drank it in the chapel one Saturday night, where nobody'd see us. He got stinking, but I hardly didn't even show it." (Pinsker 2) This shows that Holden was faced with a decision whether to drink sometime in his life. He chose to drink and is now drinking all the time and does not know how to stop. Another example is, "He leaves his room for the hotel bar, where he dances with and buys drinks for three women, then leaves the hotel bar for a nightclub in Greenwich Village, where he has three drinks. "If you were only around six years old, you could get liquor at Ernie's, the place was so dark and all, and besides, nobody cared how old you were," Holden observed. "You could even be a dope fiend and nobody'd care." (Steinle 13) Here Holden is saying that know one cares that he drinks and that he drinks all the time. Also, that drinking is not a big deal to him or anybody else. The last example is, "Would you care for a cocktail?" I asked her. I was feeling in the mood for one myself. "We can go in the club car. All right?" "Dear, are you allowed to order drinks?" she asked me. Not snotty, though. She was too charming and all to be snotty. "Well, no, not exactly, but I can usually get them on account of my heighth," I said. "And I have quite a bit of gray hair." I turned sideways and showed her my gray hair. It fascinated hell out of her. "C'mon, join me, why don't you?" I said. I'd've enjoyed having her." (57) This also talks about Holden’s drinking problem. He’s saying that he knows he can’t order drinks but knows with his wits and looks he can get them. These quotes all help express Holden’s many childhood problems in which he faces.
Holden is also growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity throughout the story. An example of this is, "The first graffito, after all, appears on a wall at his sister's school, and it is to protect youngsters that he is moved to erase it." (Shaw 5) This shows that Holden is becoming an adult by getting the urge to protect the children’s lives from becoming bad people. Secondly, "This is curious since Holden himself repeatedly tries to erase obscenities written by others." (Steinle 2) This is somewhat the same as the other since Holden constantly goes around the school to help protect the children from the evils of the world. Another example is, "When the prostitute arrives, Holden talks with her and finds that he is not really interested in having sex with her." (Steinle 13) Here Holden understands the dangers of prostitution such as STD’s and also knows he will not have sex with the prostitute because he is not ready for sex yet. Next, "Saturday night and when he gives ten dollars to the nuns for their next collection and later frets that he didn't give them enough." (Alsen 7) Holden at this point of growing up is now getting the urge to help others in their time of need and is just helping others to become a helpful and mature adult. Another example is, "He accepts that he is his sister's keeper and that he must make sure Phoebe goes back to school. He therefore gives up his plan to run away and promises to go home and face his parents." (Alsen 9) Here Holden realizes that as an adult you must face your problems head on and that you must always do the right thing. Also, "You wants some?" she said. "I don't want to take your Christmas dough." (179) In this quote Holden knows that he can’t take other peoples money for his certain mistakes in life and that it would not feel right taking it or spending it in anyway. One other example is, "I didn't want to start an argument. "Okay," I said. Then I thought of something, all of a sudden. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" I realized it was only one chance in a million." (60) As Holden is becoming an adult, he is becoming curious and asking questions as any child does during their stages of growing up. This is exactly what this quote is showing. The last example is, "....Then I took my hunting cap out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats. Then I told her again I'd give her a buzz if I got a chance, and then I left." (180) Here Holden did the same thing he did with the nuns. He became an adult and gave something very special of his to his sister which illustrates the mature adult he will soon become.
Holden does and acts like mostly all teens do today. He is similar to teenagers in many ways. For example, "(The world,) It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques." (Pinsker 1) This is similar to many teens and Holden because some teenagers talk about girls and alcohol mostly all day. Also some other kids don’t care much about sports teams if they win or lose. Another example is, “If there's one thing I hate, it's the movies. Don't even mention them to me...no matter that Holden's professed hatred of the movies is suspect-for one who knocks the flicks, he certainly spends a good deal of his time taking them in." (Pinsker 3) This shows Holden is similar to teens because some teens don’t like to go to movies like Holden, but others love to go to movies. Next, "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." (14) This helps connect Holden to all teens today because all teenagers think about their future but not as much as they should. The last quote is, "Boy, I nearly dropped dead when he said that." "Jane Gallagher," I said. I even got up from the washbowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead. "You're damn right I know her. She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. She had this big damn Doberman pinscher. That's how I met her. Her dog used to keep coming over in our-."" (31) This final quote shows how Holden and teenagers today are all alike. Here Holden shows but doesn’t tell about his secret crush on Jane Gallagher. This connects to other teens because teens today all have secret crushes. Some of their crushes are some that they show or are some that they tell. Also, Holden gets to the stage of teens where he must tell someone everything he knows about his crush Jane Gallagher. Such as in this quote when he starts telling Stradlater about his childhood memories with her and how they met. All these quotes show why Holden is similar to many teens today.
So in conclusion, Holden is an adolescent in many ways. As I have shown, he’s always trying to act tough but always seems to act like a child, is learning right from wrong, and he will face childhood problems. Also, he is growing up and trying to understand and deal with maturity, and acts like mostly all teens today. Holden is just trying to get through his life without any mess ups and is just acting like a kid. He can’t help acting like a child. Holden knows he can’t be a child forever, because he knows he must grow up some time. So Holden is trying to live the rest of his childhood while he can, since he knows he is going to become an adult very soon.
March 5 — TURN IT IN (dot com)
Today is the final day for MANDATORY submission of your final critical paper to www.turnitin.com
FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR PAPER TO TURNITIN.COM WILL RESULT IN A ZERO ON YOUR PAPER!
Hooray!! You're done!
Now let's have some fun making our Julius Caesar movie!